Gargoyle Falls Off Church, Kills Woman in Chicago

Gargoyle Falls Off Church, Kills Woman in Chicago

Posted on Sep 11, 2014 5:50pm PDT

Every year people in the United States are injured, and sometimes killed,
by debris that falls from buildings. Objects accelerate as they fall,
so even small things can cause serious injury if they fall from a significant
height. Old buildings pose a danger when facades, concrete, bricks, or
other materials break off and fall to the ground, injuring anyone below.

Recently, pieces of a gargoyle fell off a historic Chicago church and killed
a mother-of-two who was walking along the street. According to the
Chicago Tribune (9.5.14), a piece of decorative metal on the exterior of the Second Presbyterian
Church gave way and dislodged a chunk of stone from a gargoyle sitting
on a corner of one of the building’s towers. The broken piece fell
and struck Sarah Bean, 34, killing her almost instantly.

This tragic accident was likely preventable. The church failed a string
of inspections between 2007 and 2011 for violations including failing
to remove obstruction from building exits and failing to maintain an interior
stairway system in safe condition, the Chicago Tribune said. A citation
record from February 2010 said: “All of the building’s outside
walls had “fractures, washed out mortar at various locations, spalling
(flaking) stone at various locations at (north, south, east and west)
tower elevations.”

The Chicago Tribune reported that the church building failed an inspection
in 2011for code violations that included failing to maintain exterior
walls. The latter case was dismissed after repairs were made.

The building passed inspections in 2012 and 2013, reported the Chicago Tribune.

Protective scaffolding was erected around the church to prevent any more
incidents. Police and city officials were investigating the fatal accident.

The Gothic revival church is one of the Chicago’s oldest and a national
historic landmark. The church was built in 1873, two years after the Great
Chicago Fire.

The majority of the traumatic injuries and deaths that result from falling
objects could have been prevented. Typically, someone has been negligent
when something drops on someone. In the absence of negligence, things
do not fall on people. Head injuries, traumatic brain injuries, broken
bones, fractured skulls, and death can all be the result of objects that
fall from buildings.